


Black Cat of Camelot

by Gilli_ann



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Animals, Light Angst, M/M, Magic, Post-Canon, Quadruple Drabble, Spooky
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-24
Updated: 2015-06-24
Packaged: 2018-04-05 22:58:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4198236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gilli_ann/pseuds/Gilli_ann
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Camelot's castle is crumbling. Merlin wants Albion to have something to remember it by.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Black Cat of Camelot

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: the characters and places belong to the BBC and Shine TV. I intend no copyright infringement and make no profit.
> 
> The spells are explained in the end notes.

Once he'd managed to make the stone dog and Valiant's snakes come alive, Merlin secretly continued to use the life-giving spell now and then. It was a pleasure to see the castle's delightful animal sculptures and even a few fable creatures take off to enjoy actual lives in the real world.

But Camelot is no more, and its abandoned castle is falling apart. When Merlin finally makes himself return there, Arthur's golden reign is little more than a legend. 

Memories flood Merlin's mind as he steps across the yard's moss-eaten cobblestones, studying the decay that the long years have brought. The knight's statue is gone. The great colonnade has collapsed into rubble. 

With a heavy heart he steps through a yawning doorway and climbs the crumbling staircase within. The first floor is open to the elements, and he is surprised to find the majestic lion statue still in place, its bearing regal as ever although its wings have broken off. Weather-worn and cracked, it continues to guard the remnant of the place that Merlin's beloved held most dear, the place that will soon be gone forever.

"I want something to remain," Merlin says in loud defiance of the castle ruin's silence. He speaks to himself, to the empty air, to the lingering ghosts that only he can see. "Something distinct that belongs to Arthur and to Camelot and to magic."

Acting on memory and instinct, he reaches out to the black and broken lion sculpture. His eyes glow.

 _"Bebod þé arisan cwicum,"_ Merlin says, his voice strong. He hesitates for a heartbeat before adding to the spell. _"Leofaaþ a on ecnesse!"_

In front of him, a big black feline stretches its lean limbs and growls. It leaps across Merlin in one fluid motion, disappears soundlessly down the stairs, and enters the world of the living. 

During the many long centuries that follow, Merlin now and then hears tales of the big black cat of the moors, a mysterious panther-like being that haunts the land. It amazes and alarms people with its massive size and glowing eyes. He never regrets giving the proud creature life. Out there somewhere, in Albion's vast empty spaces, is a living, breathing memorial to the glory and grandeur that was Arthur's Camelot. And just like Merlin himself, the castle's big cat will live on till the day when the once and future king returns at last.

**Author's Note:**

> Merlin's two spells in the ficlet actually both appeared on the show. The first means 'I command you to rise up and live', the second means 'Live in eternity'.


End file.
